Coursework on scrooge:- Response - Sample Essay

When first starting this, we had a lesson which was candle lit and also scary music playing quietly in the background. We were then asked to create story by going round in a circle and carrying on from what each person said. The point of this was to create a scary atmosphere and also to think about what affects could be used to create a scary atmosphere e. g. we had music and candles. Also all lights were turned off so we had the reflection of the flickering candle lighting up the room. When going round in a circle each putting in a line to the scary story we had to think about the tone and pitch of our voices.

For example to make people scared you could start quietly and get louder and louder. This worked well in this workshop. Our second workshop was based around the play scrooge that we went to watch in Southampton. We were put into groups and asked to produce 4 still images from Scrooge. In my group was Me, Jodie, Zoe, Siobhan and Kieran. We chose the very opening scene which was tiny Tim and his older sister looking at toys in a shop window and also people with carts selling bread etc… We chose this scene because it showed how happy everyone is before scrooge is shown on the set.

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The next still image that we used was based around the scene with the ghosts of the present, past and future visiting scrooge. To interpret this scene we had scrooge lying down with the ghosts all surrounding him, scrooge had a scared look on his face whilst the ghosts had evil looks. This was to show that scrooge also gets scared even though his character makes out he isn’t scared of anything and that he doesn’t care what anyone thinks about him. It shows another side to him. The next still image was of the ghost showing scrooge his chain of the bad things he’s done.

To show the chain is big and heavy we had people carrying it and had them all at different levels. E. g. we had them in a line and one person standing at the back holding it, another person kneeling holding it and another person lying down trying to carry it. This was quite effective. We then had scrooge looking at it with horror. Our last still image showed a picture of everyone smiling and scrooge with his arm round tiny Tim. This was to show how scrooge had changed and become a friendly and better person to be around.

After this working on this workshop we were then giving a script from scrooge. In my group I had Michaela, Leanne and me. We were giving a scene with the characters Scrooge, Bob Cratchett and Scrooge Nephew. We decided that we wanted to have the opening scene with Bob Cratchett working sat at his desk and the spotlight on him. When performing the rest of the scene we had to think about out physicality. For example in this scene scrooge is very angry and annoyed that the Christmas season was falling upon him and he can’t stand it as he hates it so much.

As I was playing scrooge I had to get across to the audience my angry character and how much I did actually hate Christmas. I found that hunching my back, talking with a deep voice and with an angry look on my face worked well. Leanne was playing Bob Cratchett. She did this well as she looked very timid when scrooge was talking to him which is exactly what Bob Cratchett is like around Scrooge. Also when she talked she was very hesitant as she didn’t want to say anything to upset Scrooge. She wanted to be on his good side.

Michaela was playing Scrooges joyful and happy Nephew. Her character at some points had to put across a very confused character as she couldn’t understand why Scrooge was so unhappy at this time of the year. She was also very confident when talking to Scrooge and isn’t scared of him. Also her character becomes very sarcastic at the end of the play when she says ‘And a happy new year’. She knew this would anger Scrooge but she still does it. Our final workshop was a piece of stimulus which each group picked out of a box. In my group was me, Rachel, Kieran, Jacob and Nick.

Our stimulus was a letter which was old and said ‘My dearest, I’m sorry to have to tell you I am leaving you, the times we’ve spent together have been so special’. When given this we came up with many different ideas but in the end we decided on to people not being able to be together because to two families don’t like each other. This was inspired from the Shakespeare’s play ‘Romeo and Juliet’. We started the scene by using cross – cutting. I was on one side of the room at a desk writing the letter and on the other side of the room was Nick reading the letter. Neither of us were speaking on the stage.

It was all narrated by Rachel behind the curtain. She read out the letter whilst I was writing it and Nick was reading it. The next scene showed the two lovers holding hands and Nick saying ‘My love, my love, never leave me’. This was then lead onto a fight scene between the two families. As the girl I wasn’t involved but I was watching with horror. My family was called Crips and the other was called Bloods. This was to show the family was war with each other. The end of the play showed a wall and the two lovers on different sides. To indicate that in the end they couldn’t be together.